Directed by:
Hal HartleyScreenplay:
Hal HartleyCinematography:
Michael SpillerComposer:
Hal HartleyCast:
Thomas Jay Ryan, Parker Posey, Kevin Corrigan, Liam Aiken, Nicholas Hope, Christy Carlson Romano, Rachel Miner, Valorie Hubbard, Fay Ann Lee, Toy Connor (more)Plots(1)
Hartley has crafted here what many consider to be his crowning achievement: a sprawling epic of a story that tackles any and everything he decides to mock, satirize, or challenge. Simon is a factory worker who lives with his nymphomaniac sister and manic depressive mother. Along comes Henry Fool, a convicted sexual offender who moves into Simon's basement. Henry sparks Simon's mind and challenges him to write "the great American poem." To everyone's dismay, he does just that. From there, events spiral even further, until Simon must eventually make an important decision: remain loyal to his friend and help him flee the country, or turn his back on what they shared together in the past. Funny, shocking, and impressively grand in its ambitions, Hartley's script takes turns that most writers would never consider actually writing down. (official distributor synopsis)
(more)Cast
Thomas Jay Ryan
USA
Best movies:
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)
The Legend of Bagger Vance (2000)
Henry Fool (1997)
Parker Posey
USA
Best movies:
Basquiat (1996)
Henry Fool (1997)
You've Got Mail (1998)
Kevin Corrigan
USA
Best movies:
Goodfellas (1990)
American Gangster (2007)
The Departed (2006)
Liam Aiken
USA
Best movies:
Road to Perdition (2002)
Henry Fool (1997)
Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events (2004)
Nicholas Hope
UK
Best movies:
The Goddess of 1967 (2000)
Henry Fool (1997)
Bad Boy Bubby (1993)
Christy Carlson Romano
USA
Best movies:
Henry Fool (1997)
Everyone Says I Love You (1996)
Kim Possible: So the Drama (2005) (TV movie)
Rachel Miner
USA
Best movies:
Henry Fool (1997)
Alice (1990)
Joe the King (1999)
Valorie Hubbard
Best movies:
Henry Fool (1997)
A Better Life (2011)
Resident Evil: Extinction (2007)
Fay Ann Lee
Best movies:
Henry Fool (1997)
Toy Connor
USA
Best movies:
The Corner (2000) (series)
Henry Fool (1997)
Miho Nikaido
Japan
Best movies:
Henry Fool (1997)
The Book of Life (1998)
Flirt (1995)
Paul Lazar
Best movies:
The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
Philadelphia (1993)
Lorenzo's Oil (1992)
Vivian Bang
Korea
Best movies:
The Corner (2000) (series)
Henry Fool (1997)
Yes Man (2008)
James Urbaniak
USA
Best movies:
Oppenheimer (2023)
You Don't Know Jack (2010) (TV movie)
The Venture Bros.: Radiant Is the Blood of the Baboon Heart (2023)
Veanne Cox
USA
Best movies:
Erin Brockovich (2000)
Henry Fool (1997)
You've Got Mail (1998)
Gretchen Krich
Best movies:
Brand Upon the Brain! (2006)
Henry Fool (1997)
Eden (2012)
Gene Ruffini
Best movies:
Casino (1995)
Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai (1999)
Henry Fool (1997)
James Saito
USA
Best movies:
The Devil's Advocate (1997)
Die Hard with a Vengeance (1995)
Life of Pi (2012)
Dave Simonds
USA
Best movies:
Henry Fool (1997)
Conspiracy Theory (1997)
The Book of Life (1998)
Paul Greco
USA
Best movies:
The Last Temptation of Christ (1988)
Four Friends (1981)
Henry Fool (1997)